A New Beginning
by TiPoLover 22
Summary: Avery is a 16 year old girl with troubles. When her mother marries a new guy, she has to deal with a bully from school which is his son. Along the way, Avery is trying to fix her emotions, but Tyler just won't let her enjoy her new family. In the end they all realize that a man's trash is another man's treasure.
1. Chapter 1

"Tyler, get ready. The women I've been talking about is finally coming over," said Bennett James, Child Psychologist. "So is her daughter."

"I don't know why I have to get ready," Tyler James complained. He was 16. "You're the on trying to impress her. Not me. So I'll be in my room while you two mingle."

"What's "Mingle"," asked Chloe James. She was 6. "Is it a type of spaghetti. I love spaghetti."

Bennett smiled at his daughter. "No, Sweetie. It doesn't matter what it means. All that matters is that you all make me look good." He rubbed his hand through his curly hair in frustration. "Now where did I put that tie."

"If you want to look good, ditch the tie," Tyler advised as he took it off the giant clown in the living room and threw it in the trash. Then he flipped his long hair out of his face.

Chloe wanted to be part of the conversation, so she said, "You should wear spaghetti instead." Then she handed him a handful of spaghetti.

"Where did you get this? We didn't even eat spaghetti." Then the door knocked.

Ellen Jennings was getting ready to show her daughter to the man she had been seeing for over a year now. "How do I look," she asked rubbing her fingers through her long brown hair.

"If you want to look good, ditch the wig," said her daughter, Avery Jennings. She was exactly 16 years of age. She had blue hair with red highlights and wore black most of the time. She spent all her leftover time at home with her dog, Stan. She was an outcast in her own home since the only one there was her mother and she never really talked to her. Stan was the only one she would talk to since she had no friends to hang out with and no where to go. She was always sad inside and her mother knew why.

Ellen took her daughters advice and took off the wig revealing her naturally short, blonde hair. "Is that better?"

Avery forced a smile as she showed 2 thumbs up. Then her mother knocked on the door as Stan rubbed his head against Avery's legs.

Bennett opened the door to his girlfriend and her daughter. "Hello, Ellen. Is this your daughter?"

"Yes, she is. And this is her dog, Stan."

Avery walked in and viewed the place. So did Stan. What got her attention was the clown. "Cool clown," she said nonchalantly. The next thing that got her attention was a boy with long hair glaring daggers at her. "I want to leave Now!" She told her mother.

"But, Honey. We just got here. Don't you want to meet Bennett's kids?"

"I've already met hi- Wait, did you say _kids?" _

"Yes. There's Tyler and Chloe." Ellen heard Stan growl at the sound of Tyler's name.

"Stan, do not growl while he's right here. He can hear you," Avery scolded her dog.

"Oh, so you've trained the mutt not to growl in front of me? How wonderful," Tyler said bitterly. Then Stan went after him, barking and growling. But he didn't bite.

"Oh no. Stan, stop," Avery said in a voice that meant she cared not at all if he didn't.

Tyler jumped over the couch to get away from the crazy mutt. "Get away from me you dumb dog."

"Avery, control your dog," Ellen ordered.

Avery sighed. "Stan, come." And he did.

"I can't believe you're her daughter. You look like something the cat dragged in while she looks like an angel that fell from heaven." Tyler and Avery had a difficult past.

"Now, Tyler. Be nice," Bennett said to his son.

Chloe, who wasn't afraid of anything, walked up to Avery and asked, "Are you a witch?"

"Chloe!"

"What? I was just asking."

Avery actually let out a smile. "No. But I am a wizard. I was destined to be with mortals for the rest of my life cause I didn't give my ham sandwich to a warlock."

Chloe was fascinated. "Cool."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Don't believe her, Chloe. The only thing she is, is a freak."

Avery lifted her hands up in defeat. "You know what. I'll just wait in the car." She was about to walk out when her mother grabbed her.

"Oh, no you're not. You're staying and meeting new people, even if you can't stand it."

"It's not the new people I can't stand. It's the only boy in this room that Stand, I cannot."

Ellen glared at her daughter. "Just be nice," she whispered.

"Does he bite," asked Chloe, looking hesitantly at Stan.

Avery smiled and rubbed Stan's ear. "No. Stan wouldn't hurt a fly."

Chloe started petting the mutt. "He is so adorable."

"You should've seen him when he was a puppy. He was the cutest thing."

"You look awesome. Can I try some of your make up." Chloe was amazed by Avery's choice of style.

"Maybe when your older and can actually hold liquid eye-liner without spilling it on yourself."

"I haven't spilled eye-liner since Mommy left to heaven. She put it on only during parties."

"Well, that's not me. I put it on every day."

"No kidding," said Tyler. "You look like a zombie."

Avery headed towards the door and her mother stopped her and walked her to the couch. Stan followed. So did Chloe, who was holding in to Stan like a stuffed animal. Avery sat down on the other end since Tyler wasn't there. Stan jumped on her lap. Chloe sat in the middle.

"Tyler, I want you to be nice to your new sister," said Bennett.

"New What?!" Yelled Avery and Tyler at the same time.

"We were going to tell you at dinner, but now seemed like the better choice," Bennett explained. "

"I'm dead," Avery exclaimed.

"I already cleaned out my man-cave, so you have the best room in the house, Avery."

Avery let out a small smile. "Thank you, Bennett." Maybe she wasn't dead.

"What?" Said Tyler, outraged. "I wanted that room. That room should be mine."

Bennett gave him no mind. "And Chloe, you will have a new sister and mommy."

Chloe gasped. "A new Mommy? And a sister? Awesome! I love this already." Chloe hugged Avery and Stan laid his chin on her arm. Avery stiffened. She wasn't used to hugging.

"Ok, now that that's out, why don't we go eat out?" Asked Ellen.

Avery stood up with Chloe and Stan. "Can we eat somewhere Dog tolerable?"

"Why don't you just cook a home meal," asked Bennett.

Avery walked to the door with Chloe and Stan. "Trust me. You wouldn't want that."


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school, Tyler was angry. Very angry. It wasn't enough that his mortal enemy went to his school, now she be his sister too? And somehow, the whole school knew due to a blog that was anonymous. Some dude named Stan.

"Hey dude," said Johnny. "How about we go pick on that girl again."

Tyler would have loved to, but now that they were going to be brother and sister he couldn't. She would have been a snitch. "No, dude. Not today. Her dog is with her." He didn't like that dog.

"Oh, I see. Can't pick on your sister, now can you?" Then he laughed historically.

Tyler's eyes widened. "How do you know about that? I only figured out yesterday."

"HA! So did we. Everyone knows. Look." Johnny showed him his IPhone.

Tyler looked at the screen in dismay. "So this is Avery," he read aloud. There was a picture of the freak on the left. "She's about to have a brother. No. Her mother is not pregnant, she's getting married. To Bennett James." A picture of his dad was shown. "And this is his son, Tyler James." Then he saw his picture. It was his embarrassing Middle school picture when he had braces. "I feel sorry for the poor girl. But her new sister is very nice." Then there was a picture of Chloe. "She's a sweetheart and knows how to treat a dog instead of calling him a mutt." Tyler was furious. He couldn't believe Avery did this. "I'll be back," he said as he handed Johnny back his IPhone. Then he went to find Avery.

Avery was sitting alone on the same table she had been sitting in for the past two years of High School. She didn't get any lunch today. She wasn't hungry. Stan was sitting on the floor, guarding her. Then Karl Fink, the only other boy that talked to her to insult her, came up to her. "Hello, Avery."

"Ugh. What do you want, Karl?" Stan didn't move or growl or anything. He knew Karl wouldn't hurt her physically or mentally. He just insulted her on what she already knew.

"I hear your going to have a new brother."

"No I'm not. My mom isn't pregnant."

"Oh, I never said she was. I hear she's getting married." Avery looked at him with a quizzical look. "To Bennett James. And I hear he has a son. What was his name again? Oh, yes. Tyler James."

Avery stood up to level with him. "How do you know that?!" She told no one, cause who would she tell.

"Just little blog that everyone reads," he mocked. "Perhaps you've heard of it."

"Oh, I've heard of it, alright," she said as she tried hard not to glare at Stan.

"Well, I hope to see you soon."

"What do you mean?"

"You are moving in to his house, right?" She nodded hesitantly. "Well, I hope to see you soon. Neighbor." Then he walked away, laughing.

Avery's jaw hung open. Both men, or as she would say, Boys, were going to be nothing but ten feet away from her for the rest of High School. She sat down, knowing she was going to be in a living Hell. Then her worst, most brutal enemy came. Lindsey was always so sweet. To real people, that is. To Freaks, not so much. She always wore those stupid hats and let her bouncy hair flow. "Hello, Avery. I heard really great news."

She petted Stan, who was growling like crazy, as she said, "You're finally going to get that nose job you've needed since seventh grade?"

Lindsey glared at her. "NO. I hear you're going to have a whole new family. Tyler is going to be so happy," she said with sarcasm leaking through every word.

"Why don't you go tell someone who cares." Avery then grabbed the wrapper of the granola bar she had earlier and threw it at her.

Lindsey was astonished. Then she grabbed the cherry pie that was served for lunch off her plate and threw it at Avery. It landed on her chest, which was covered with a red turtle neck. "Hope that taught you a lesson."

Avery grabbed the cherry pie off her chest and took a bite out of it. "Nope." She said.

"UGH! You're such a freak!" Then she walked to the cool kids table where she sat next to her boyfriend, Tyler James. But she didn't need to. For the second she sat down, Tyler got up and headed towards Avery.

Of course, Avery didn't notice this since she was enjoying her pie. Then a hand was slammed in front of her and she jumped a bit. She looked up to see her enemy, her bully, and, worst of all, her soon to be brother. "What do you want?"

"Why did you tell everyone that I was going to be your brother?!" He accused.

"Excuse me?! Why would I tell anyone that?!"

"Because you want to ruin me. Ruin my life. Ruin my family."

"Ruin you? You know, if people just left me alone, there wouldn't be any problems. I choose not to have friends for a reason. So I won't get caught up in all the drama. But apparently, that's not going to happen."

"Cut the act. Like I can't put all the pieces together? You're the only one who knew. And funny how the person who blogged it had the same name as your dog."

"I didn't do it!"

"Who did it then? Your dog?" He received silence. "You know what, stay out of my life."

"That's going to be hard when we're living in the same house together."

Tyler got frustrated and walked away.

Avery turned to Stan with a glare. "Why would you do that?"

"I was only trying to help," Stan answered.


	3. Chapter 3

The next three days were easy to forget. Avery was only moving her stuff from the apartment into the former-man cave. It was nice to her. The walls were blue, it was roomy, and there was a nice view of the backyard and someone's window. She hadn't really paid much mind to it until today. She had her bed here and the sheets were in a box. Her books and CD's were on shelves already hammered to the wall when she got here. Bennett gave her a drawer with three drawers with a number on it. There was a closet big enough for all her stuff. Her desk was on a wall that was close to the window. And the window had curtains, white curtains with red X's. She liked the room.

She only hoped that the room that belonged to the window didn't belong to Karl. The curtains were open and she could see that the room was simple. It had a bookcase loaded with books. There was a bed made perfectly. She didn't see a TV. And there was a little couch-chair next to the bookcase. Maybe Karl didn't own that room. He was the same age as her. He wouldn't have such a boring room. Then Karl came into view through the window and sat down on the bed, reading a book. Avery then closed the curtains quickly. There was suddenly a big problem with her room. But she already saw Tyler's room and that was more worse than this.

She fell to her bad with a sigh. Two more years was all she had left before she could leave this God Forsaken Hell. Then she got up and took out her sheets. Not everything she had was black. Not even half of what she had was black. The sheets were blue, matching the walls. What a coincidence. So was the blanket, but with red trimming on the top. Her pillows were yellow with white flower patterns. And that was pretty much all she had. Stan's bed was on the side of it, but Avery knew he would never use it. She only kept because it Bennett gave it to her. And Bennett was going to be her new dad. The wedding was next week and she wanted it to be over with.

Tyler was a huge problem these last few days. He was always in her way, always had his way, and never moved out of the way. When she tried to use the bathroom, he would get there first and take forever. She knew he wasn't eve using it. When dinner came around, he would always say what he wanted to eat and then gave her a look that dared her to challenge him. A challenge she never accepted. And when she would try to watch TV or just look outside the window, he wouldn't move out of the way. It was as if he was blaming this whole thing on her. And worst of all, he was a total jerk to Stan. He claimed that Stan had bit him, but everyone found out he was lying. He even tried putting him outside saying that dogs weren't aloud in the house. Then Bennett made an acception.

Chloe was amazing. She was always saying weird things that made her wonder if they were true. Most things she had just made up to impress Avery. And she was ok with this. Because Chloe was a sweet heart. She shared everything with her. Her food, her spot on the couch, even the expired chocolate bar that was behind the fridge. Avery made sure that Chloe didn't eat that. Chloe was always doing weird things. She wore an outfit and called herself Chloe the Magnificent. Avery thought that it was really adorable. So did Stan. He told Avery that she really knows how to treat a dog. She fed him all of her table scraps and played with him until he was tired or until she was. They both really loved Chloe.

When Avery was done with her bed, she lied down. Then Stan came in and laid on her stomach. "Hey, Stan. Are you done playing with Chloe?"

"Yeah," he answered. "She fell asleep. While throwing the ball."

Avery let out a small laugh. "She's such a sweetheart. I'm glad I'm her sister. I'm glad she's _my_ sister."

"I'm glad she's my new owner. She's like a baby. A big, curious baby with hair that reminds me of squirrels."

Avery sat up, confused. "Squirrels?"

Stan sat up too. "Yeah. They go up and down. Just like squirrels."

"Sh. Someone's coming." It was her mother and Bennett.

"Wow, Avery. I didn't know you played the Electric Guitar," Bennett said as he carried the speakers in.

Then Ellen came in carrying Avery's guitar. It was beautiful the way it was. The headstock was in the shape of a dog's head. Avery was able to make that possible. The turning pegs were all blue. The Fret board was morphing rainbow, one color leading to another. And the horns were extra pointy, just how she liked them. The body was her favorite thing. It wasn't just a color, it was Stan's face on a black background. Ellen handed it to her and Stan barked.

"You love it too, don't you, Stan," Avery asked, even though she knew the answer. Then she rubbed his ear. She hung her guitar on a special place she made for it.

"You know, Honey," her mother started. "This is going to be great for us. A new family. A new house. And a new future."

Avery smiled. "I hope it will be."

"Avery, why don't you play something," Bennett suggested.

"Um... Ok." She grabbed her guitar and connected it to the speakers. Ellen plugged the speaker in. Avery put the volume control on medium and turned the pegs a bit. Then she started playing the Drunken Sailor.

Tyler was outside the door, listening to the others admire the freak.


	4. Chapter 4

The wedding was here. Avery was wearing something out of her style. It was a white, simple dress with a white flower on the side. She thought it would be nice without the flower. Stan was wearing a mini vest and tie. Avery saw that he looked confident. Many people came to pet him and say how handsome he was. 'That's right,' he thought. 'Tell the dog he's handsome. He already knows.' Avery smiled as if reading his mind. "Hey, Avery," he whispered. "Can you go get me my white tie? This one doesn't match the wedding." It was black with red polka dots.

"You barely figured that out," she said. Then she sighed. "Ok. I'll go get it." Then she ran upstairs to her room. Upon entering she saw Tyler sitting on her bed. "What are you doing I here?"

"Let's get this straight," he said while standing up. "I want this room."

"Get this straight, pretty boy. You're not having it." Then she started looking for the white tie. She thought she saw it in her closet.

"I want this room."

"No. Bennett gave it to me. Not you. Now get out."

"I'm not leaving _my_ room."

"And you're not," she said as she came out with a white tie. "You're leaving _my_ room." He didn't move a muscle. "You know what, we'll settle this the way they did during the clan dike stampede 1897."

"Like I say to my history teacher, I don't know what that is and please don't explain it."

Avery did anyways. "When gold was discovered clan dike, the rule was which ever prospector got to an area first could claim it for themselves."

"So you explained it and told me a rule? It just keeps getting worse."

Avery knew that Tyler was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. So she explained. "So after the vows, we'll do the same thing. The first one into the room gets it."

"Deal." Then Tyler realized something. "Why didn't you just say we were racing? Why'd you have to teach me something? Now I have to go do something to get the smartness out of my head." Tyler thought. "Ugh! I cant think of anything." Then he smiled. "I cant think of anything. Yes! I'm back!"

"I wouldn't be one to celebrate that."

During the wedding, all the two could think about was positioning themselves for the race to the bedroom. They kept going behind each other, trying to be closer to the room.

Chloe was about to give a speech. "Ok. Ok." She said into the microphone. "This is really important." Then, when she got everyone's attention, she made popping noises. After she was done, she said, "Clapp everybody. Clapp!" Everyone did.

Then Ellen took the microphone. "How 'bout that Chloe, huh? She just pops in whenever you need her." Then she laughed at her own joke, no one else did.

"Yeah," said the priest. "Good one, Ellen." Then everyone laughed.

"They laughed when he said 'Good one, Ellen.' I'll have to remember that." She told herself.

"And now our bride and groom will read the vows that they prepared," the priest said as Tyler and Avery kept shoving each other.

Bennett looked at his wife-to-be and said, "After you."

"No, after you," Ellen insisted.

Tyler was in the way of the hall and so she went under him. Tyler was so shocked that he bumped into a man who umped into a table that bumped into a frog case. It fell and everyone quickly got away from them.

"The Frogs! The Frogs," Ellen screamed. She tried running away but ended up with a cake in her face as she fell to the floor. She dropped the whole cake on herself.

"Ellen," Bennett yelled, worried. He tried to pick her up but he slipped on the cake and fell.

Tyler took advantage of this distraction and ran upstairs to the room as fast as he could. Avery didn't care. She had more sense. Then she went to help Stan catch the frogs.

The priest ran away, freaked out.

"Wait," Bennett yelled million times. "Our wedding!"

"I'm afraid of frogs!" He explained.

"So am I!" Yelled Ellen. "But I'm more afraid of being single! Now get back here and Marry me!" She ordered.

The priest did it short. He pointed to Ellen. "Do you?"

"Yes."

He pointed to Bennett. "Do you?"

"Yes."

I now pronounce you husband and-" Then he noticed a frog on his shoulder. "Frog!" He yelled, then ran out the door. Before he did, Aver took the frog off and held with the many more she had. Stan had one in his mouth.

Ellen shrugged. "I'll take it." Then she stood while she helped Bennett.

"Bennett, can you pick up the case," Avery asked. He did and Avery put the frogs in.

"We are getting rid of those," Ellen said.

"Agreed," said Bennett. "I wonder where Tyler went. Why isn't he helping." Bennett saw that all the guests were helping picking up the mess.

"I'll go get him," said Avery with a smile.

She entered the room and saw Tyler leaning against the wall. "You know, I'm thinking of putting a Mike Metzger poster on this wall."

"You're not putting any posters of yours in _my_ room," said Avery.

"Uh uh, I got here first, so it's mine."

"Actually, it's not. You see, the vows never happened. So the race was off. So the room still belongs to me."

Tyler was shocked. "What?! That's-"

"The way it is," Avery finished. "Now get out! Your dad need your help."

He walked out, feeling defeated, as Avery followed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was a bit harsh for Tyler. His girlfriend broke up with him and the new girl was now friends with Avery.

Tyler was at his locker when his girlfriend, Lindsey, came up to him. "Hey girlfriend, what's going on?"

"Not us, that's for sure," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Tyler, it's just not working anymore. I think we need to break up."

"You think? Why would you think that?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you are now the brother of the freak. And I don't like her. No one does. But the fact is, she is now your sister. So it's over."

"It's over because Avery's my sister?" Tyler couldn't believe it. Avery was ruining everything.

"I hope we can stay friends," Lindsey said. Then she walked away.

Tyler got the books out for first period and slammed his locker.

Avery was walking around the school with Stan when the principal came up to her with a girl behind him. She was a tall, skinny girl with a nice tan and long brown hair. "Hello, Avery. I want you to meet Nikki Ortiz. You will be showing her around today."

Avery was eating a Taki when she heard this and started choking on it. When she was done, she said, "Are you crazy? I'm not good with people. Go find someone else."

Principal Lawson pulled Avery aside. "Avery, there's a reason I picked you to be her guide. I've noticed that your are, what your generation calls, a loner. You need to make a friend. I've seen your school records. You're a smart girl and very talented. You should share that with someone."

"But I don't like sharing."

"Then I will abduct points from your performance grade in every class. I put her in every class you have because I want it to be easy for you to make a friend of her."

"But-"

"No buts. Now go be a guide." Then Principal Lawson walked away.

Avery sighed. "Hello, I'm Avery Jennings," she said as she walked to the girl.

"Hola, Avery. I am Nikki Ortiz," said the girl, revealing that she had some sort of accent. "I just moved here from El Salvador. Is this school alright?"

"Well, I really wouldn't know." Then Stan barked to get attention. He liked Nikki already. He could sense how amazing she was. The only thing that would make her better was is she were able to catch a Frisbee with her mouth. "Oh, Nikki, this is my dog, Stan."

Nikki bent down to pet the dog. "Oh, he's so cute." She looked up at Avery. "I love dogs. I even know that special place to scratch." She scratched him behind the ear and Stan instantly fell in love with her. "They actually allow him on campus?"

"They made an acception for me. Also, he's the school mascot. He's my only friend." Stan sniffed her. She smelled so good he couldn't believe she wasn't bacon.

Nikki felt sorry for her. "Well, now you have two. I'll be your friend," she said as she stood up.

"You want to be my friend? Why?"

"Because I'm not one to judge. There was a girl at my old school just like you. No one liked her because she was different. So I made a friend of her. It's not right when people judge a book by it's cover." Avery actually felt something in her heart grow a bit. "I love your hair. It reminds me of that DreamWorks movie. Shrek."

Avery had seen that movie. "How so?"

"When the princess asked Donkey to go get blue flowers with red thorns. I thought that was the funniest part."

They both laughed. Avery loved that part. "I've never been complimented on hair. People usually say that it looks like a shark just had lunch."

Nikki knew what that meant. "Well, people usually don't know how to be nice." Then the bell rang for school to start. "There's the bell. Can you show me the way to room 201."

"Sure, I'm headed there myself." As they left, Stan followed. He loved room 201. The science teacher loved dogs.

It was around lunch time when Tyler noticed a new face in this school. She was beautiful with a nice tan and long, brown hair. He walked up to her with a pen and paper. "Hello there, I'm Tyler. Here's my phone number and email address," he wrote it down and gave it to her.

She took it and smiled. "Why do you young men keep giving me your personal information?"

"Probably because you are one hot tamale." He could tell that she was probably Hispanic.

"Why, thank you. But I'm not looking for a relationship," she explained.

"Then why don't we start out as friends. That way you can tell if I'm perfect boyfriend material. School just started. So you have all the time you need. Just make the decision soon please?"

Nikki laughed. "You're funny. Maybe you are boyfriend material. But I have to get to know you first. Why don't you came sit with my new friend and I? It will give me some time to know you."

Tyler looked at the cool kids table and saw that his seat was already taken. Lindsey was getting very comfy with the schools star quarter back, Michael Jones. Going there wasn't an option. And being with Nikki where ever she may go sounded fine with him. "Alright. Lets go grab some lunch first."

Tyler and Nikki were talking as they walked towards a table. It was only when they sat down that Tyler realized that Avery was sitting across from them. "Hi, Nikki. I see you've met Tyler."

Nikki nodded. "So you two know each other?"

"We go way back," Avery explained. It all started when she dyed her hair blue and red when she was in sixth grade. That's when the name calling started and a rivalry was born. But she wasn't going to trouble Nikki with her problems. "Calm, Stan," she said when Stan started to growl.

"Oh, so you must know that he's very funny. He was telling me a joke about a dog and a cat. Instead the dog chasing it's own tail..."

"He chased the cats tail." Then they both laughed. **(OK. I know it's not funny, but give me a break. I'm not a joker).**

"How hilarious," she seethed.

Stan felt offended. No dog joke was a joke. This meant war. He started barking at him.

Avery had enough problems. She didn't need Stan causing more. "Stan. Calm down. Now." He stopped barking. She felt Tyler's glare and Nikki's confused eyes on her. "Sorry. I think he saw a squirrel."

"But there are no trees in the cafeteria," Nikki pointed out.

Avery shrugged. "Oh well." She looked straight at Tyler. "Guess he saw something that irritated him."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for not updating in a while. I've been distracted. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

"You totally ruined my chance with Nikki," Tyler accused as he and Avery entered the house.

"How?! And don't you have a girlfriend?" Avery was getting sick of this. Did they really have to walk home together? Then she realized that they did. Nikki lived right across the street.

Tyler didn't say anything. "She broke up with me."

Avery actually felt sympathy. "It's ok Joshua. There are plenty of fish in the see." Avery was so sad that she didn't realize what she had just said.

"I don't need any sympathy from the one who caused this. And who the heck is Joshua?"

Avery's eyes widened. Did she really just say _his_ name? Stan barked to get her in the real world. "He's no one," she muttered silently. She slammed the door shut and ran upstairs. Stan watched and then left to sleep on the couch. Tyler was only wondering what had just happened.

Then a client of Bennett's came out of the room that was just below the stairs. "Good work, Mary. You just now need to learn to be near them and you'll get over your fear of pinballs in no time."

Mary nodded as her hair bounced. Then she walked outside where her mother was waiting for her.

"Hey, Tyler. Why are you not at school? Aren't the football tryouts today?" Tyler had been on the football team for the past three years since seventh grade.

"Eh, didn't want to this year." That was not the case. Everyone he knew was going to try out for the Foot Ball team. And now that he was Avery's brother, they didn't seem to want to talk to him anymore. It was all freaking Avery's fault. Then she had to go and make friends with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. What happened to "If people left me alone, there wouldn't be any problems"? He grunted at the thought.

Avery was sitting on her bed with a faraway look in her eyes. "The reason I don't attack him isn't because you tell me not to," Stan said, breaking her form her trance. She looked at him with hopeless eyes. "It's because he looks just like _him_."

Avery nodded. She understood. But it was hard to cope with it when Tyler looked just like him. The long hair, the stupid, yet funny grin she always saw him with. She loved Tyler as her own brother. But the fact that he hated her and that he looked like him didn't make it easy to forget _him_. "I hate the fact that he hates me. Maybe one day he wont and I'll forget about all this sadness."

"Maybe."

At Dinner that night, Avery secretly ordered a Pizza. Eating whatever the heck her mother made that night, she heard the door bell ring. "I wonder who could that be at a time like this," Helen asked herself.

"I'll get it," Avery said, knowing all too well who it was. She got out of her seat and walked out of the kitchen to the front door. She opened it to reveal a man holding a pizza box.

"Did you order a Vegan Supreme?"

"Yes, yes I did. 12 bucks, right." She took a twenty out of her pocket and handed it to him as she took the box. "Keep the change," she said as she slammed the door. She set the box on the couch and walked into the kitchen.

She sat down as Bennett asked, "Who was at the door?"

"Wrong house, I guess." She took a small bite of whatever was on her plate and then turned to her mother. She opened to her mouth to say something.

"Do I smell Pizza," Helen asked.

Avery looked away and stared at her plate. After gathering enough courage, and choosing to forget about her mothers question, she said, "I think I'm going to go to bed now. I have an algebra test tomorrow." She was gone not a second later.

Stan was on the floor next to Chloe waiting for her to drop some more food when he heard Avery call him. He ran after her.

Tyler seemed to be the only one to notice the weirdness of it all. "I think I'll go to sleep too." He got up and was about to leave when his father grabbed his wrist.

"I don't think so. Your plate is still full."

"So is Avery's," he complained.

"That's expected of Avery," Helen explained. "She doesn't eat much." Helen was brought back to the reason and shook her head.

"Well, Tyler does. Now come here and eat at least half."

"So, is there a reason you called me," Stan asked. "Because Chloe was having a Mess Fest." Then he smelled it.

Avery held he box up. "Come on, lets go eat this in peace." And she walked upstairs.

Tyler shoved as much gunk in his mouth as fast as he could just to see what Avery was up to. When he was done he walked out before he could throw up. He grabbed a tiny trash can on a table in the living room and filled it with bile. He looked up to see that Avery was staring at him with a thin box in her hands on top of the stairs. "What do you want?" He wasn't that stupid and realized that she had bought a pizza for herself. He put the can down.

Avery broke out of her trance and hurriedly took out a piece of pizza. "Catch," she said as she tossed it in his direction.

He caught it expertly and looked at her again. But she was gone. He took a bite of the pizza and silently thanked her. Something he would never do to her face.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I messed up on a name in the last chapter. No promises that it wont happen again. Bye.**

The next few days were bickering and silence since neither backed down for Nikki's attention. Avery just wanted a friend. Why couldn't Tyler see that? Besides, all he wanted was another girl to catch. She could tell that, to him, the world was an ocean and there was plenty of fish to catch. When she got home on a Tuesday afternoon, she walked in to the kitchen to get a snack only to see that her mom was having tea with Karl Fink.

"What's going on here," she shrieked.

Ellen slightly jumped. "Oh, honey. You home an hour late. Where have you been?"

She would have told her mother that she had been at the ditch just behind the school, but her mother didn't need to know about that. If she did, she would only interrupt Avery and her quiet time. It wasn't old and ugly like most city ditches. This one had a nice view of the sunset and gave an nice peach glow in the tiny stream of water that led to the wash. Small little flowers grew in the fresh green grass that she pick and blew off the little petals. It was said that if you blew them off with just one blow form your mouth, your wish would come true. So, yeah. She could tell her mother and ruin it for her. Or she can just accuse her other of not trusting her. She decided the second scenario was better. "What? Do you not trust me?"

Ellen was a bit taken back. "Why, no. I was just asking."

"Well, you don't need to," she said softly. "I capable of handling what's in this world. you of all should know this." Her attention was on something else before she broke down. "What is _he_ doing here?"

Ellen had not expected any visitors that day but Karl came to greet his new neighbors. A few weeks from when they originally moved in, but nonetheless came to greet them. Although, only one person in this house was a stranger. And that happened to be Avery's mother. "Oh, this is Karl. He lives right next door."

Avery was out. "I am well aware of who he is and where he lives! I didn't ask for his life story, I asked why he's here?!" She noticed that her mouth was only gaping and realized that that scene only went on in her head. Not thinking it was a good idea to snap at her mother just yet, she decided to play nice. "Hello, Karl. It's nice to see you outside of school," she said with as much sweetness as she could muster.

"Oh, you two know each other," her mother asked, oblivious to the tension that was rising.

"Boy, do we know each other," she muttered.

"Yes. Yes we do," Karl confirmed. "We have most of our classes together and we talk frequently during lunch."

'Talk?! All you do is insult me!' She thought. He always had something to say to her. About her choice of style, about her way with words, which she thought was perfectly fine, her absence in class, and just simply her. She was never one for compliments. She didn't like insults that much either. "Yes, the talks are about unnecessary information." She tried her best to hide the bitterness leaking through her mouth. She thought she was doing a pretty good job since her mother didn't notice. She didn't know why, but Stan never growled or barked at him. Avery always wanted to know why, but Stan always replied, "He's not a threat." She wondered what that meant. Still. She wished he would at least bite him but then he wouldn't be allowed on school grounds.

"Ooh, like what," Ellen asked, curious.

Avery didn't feel like talking about it. "I don't feel like talking about it."

"Oh." Her mother took a sip of her tea. "Sweetie, why don't you join us."

"No thanks," she said, leaning against the counter.

"Oh, come on, Avery. We haven't had tea together in a long time." The look on her face said that she wasn't taking No for an answer. And Avery noticed this.

She hesitantly answered, "F-fine".

She was about to take a seat when she realized the only over chair available was the one next to Karl. The other two were being occupied with bags. She scooted the chair a bit to the left. "Oh, Avery," Karl said when he noticed this. "I don't bite."

She glared at him. "And what if I _do_?" She sat slumped down in her chair.

"Avery, have some tea," her mother said.

"What kind is it?"

"It's Honey Bush."

Avery sat up. "Ooh. What Kind?"

"Um, I'm not sure," Ellen admitted as she poured her daughter tea.

"Cyclopia Intermedia," Karl answered.

Of course, he didn't need to, for the second the tea touched Avery's tongue, she could taste the sweet sensation.

"How is it, Hon?"

Avery smiled. "It's just how I remembered it."

"Well, I'm glad you like it, _Honey Bush_." Her mother laughed at her own little joke.

"Don't ruin the moment, Mom," Avery scolded, the smile never leaving her face.

After she controlled herself, she took a sip of her tea. "So how was school today?"

Avery's eyes widened. She had only been there half the day and then ditched to go to the ditch. She was gaping until she decided to tell her mother the truth. "School was fine. My A is still raging in science. I still hate P.E. And Art was a bit of a mess, as you can see." She gestured towards her paint stained blue jeans and purple tank top.

"What about math? I know it's not your best subject, but did anything fun happen?"

Avery was gaping. That was an afternoon class and she had ditched right after lunch. She had no clue what to say.

Karl had never seen Avery smile. She smiled at her dog, but they were small. She smiled at all her bullies, but they were forced and fake. But how she smiled at her mother was truly amazing. And he didn't want it to disappear so soon. "We were making origami animals. They're due at the end of class tomorrow," he hinted.

Avery got the hint. She was not ditching school tomorrow. Thank God Karl was in every class she had. Well, they didn't have art together, but that didn't matter. '_Wait a minute_,' she thought. '_Since when was it a good thing to have Karl in my class?_' She just took a sip of her tea. "Yup," she said. "And that's all there is to say."

"You sure? Nothing else?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"You know, Avery. It's the beginning of the school year."

"Yes, I know that." Avery could only wonder where her mom was going with this.

"You should join some clubs this year."

Avery started coughing. She had been taking a sip of her tea before her mother blurted those words out. When she controlled herself, she yelled, "What?!"

"You should join some clubs this year," she repeated. "In fact, you should join Karl's club. It's a new one and it's all about science."

"I'm not so sure..." Both teenagers said. Aver didn't like clubs. And Karl only helped her out this once. He didn't need her to be around him.

"Shush it," Ellen demanded. "Your joining his club and that's that."

Avery sighed. "Fine." She was so not looking forward to this.


	8. Chapter 8

Tyler was never going to live this down. All in the base of three days, he was humiliated. Why did the world hate him? What had he ever done to deserve this punishment? Avery was a freak that just happened to be the daughter of the woman his father loved. He didn't mind Ellen. She was a bit on the weird side, but was amusing to watch. In fact, he had almost called her Mom, while running inside to tell her he was going to a friends house. It was an embarrassing moment, but Ellen didn't seem to mind. He guessed that she was already accustomed to him. But he didn't care. As long as that freak was her daughter, she would never be his mom. But it was all so unfair. All because she had to come into his life when they were in kindergarten.

Now that he thought about it, they didn't really bicker as much in kindergarten as they do now. He tried to remember what that was about, but couldn't. He remembered her laugh, her smile, and he remembered Stan. He also remembered someone but couldn't put his finger on it. Someone always at her side. But it was so long ago and he had a million memories to look through. Most of them being him doing something stupid with his friends. Well, used to be friends. They had all ignored him since the wedding. How could they do that? He thought they were his friends. Guess they weren't, cause he was now sitting at table all alone. Nikki wasn't here today since she still had some unpacking to do. He wasn't going sit next to Avery. Being a loner was her thing. He wasn't going to ruin that.

Then a few boys decided to sit at the empty table he was in. He had honestly never seen them before. Maybe they were in one of his classes. No, they were older than him and looked too intelligent to flunk. "Hell there, Tyler," said the one with glasses the size of basketballs and sandy hair. Despite that nerdy detail, he seemed fit.

"Um... Hi there..."

"That's right," said the one with black hair that gave off a bluish glow. "We've yet to introduce ourselves."

"We're the Legend," said the one with white hair that had a black streak going down the bangs that covered his right eye.

Tyler gasped. These guys were the Legend, the three best in the track team. They had spent their lives running and doing obstacles. He guessed that the one with glasses was the George, their leader, since he sat in between his standing comrades. The one with the black streak was Davis, his black streak was known throughout the school. And the one with blue tinged hair was Nason, the life of the team. These guys were faster than anyone he ever knew. He wondered why they didn't want to join the football team. But that wasn't the point of their visit. "What do you want with me?"

It was George who spoke first. "We noticed that you didn't come to football tryouts this year. Did something happen?"

"Why do you care?"

"You see," Davis said. "We don't. We only want to know to see if you are worthy."

"Worthy for what?" None of them spoke. He groaned. "I didn't go this year cause everyone was ignoring me."

They didn't even blink. "So you quit football this year since no one would acknowledge you?" Tyler nodded. "How pathetic," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Perhaps you aren't worthy," Nason said.

"Worthy for what?!"

"To be in our group," they said in unison.

Tyler's eyes widened. They wanted him to be in their group? Why?

"We've seen you run and with your biking hobby, your legs are strong which easily makes you a soon-to-be member of the legend," George explained. "But, seeing how you quit because you don't like someone makes you a sore-loser. We don't need sore-losers on our team. We need strong people. Those who have weaknesses but can overcome them."

"We don't need someone as shallow as you," Davis finished. George stood up and they walked away. But before they were out of sight, Tyler yelled, "Wait!" He caught up to them in less than a second. "What is that supposed to mean? I didn't bail on my team, they bailed on me. I'd never do that."

George looked like he was thinking. "Fine," he finally said. "Tuesday, 4:10, gym. You and the others will be doing warm ups."

"Others?"

"Yes. Do you see how we are three?" Tyler nodded to the group. "Exactly. Once we're gone, we need a group to take our place. The Legend will no die. There are two others we have now. Three including you. And that's it. That's all we need." They all turned their backs to him. George spoke one last time. "I hope you keep your word about not bailing on your team." Then they were gone.

"Tuesday, huh," he muttered. "I'll be there."


End file.
